I, Jedi
by Kazie Solo
Summary: *DBZ/SW - Chapter IV Up!* What if Darth Vader captured Princess Leia's ship in Earth space, making C3PO and R2D2 cross paths with Son Gohan instead of Luke Skywalker? How would he fare as a Jedi? How would it change the fate of the galaxy far, far away?
1. Prologue

**_A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..._**

_The Old Republic, under the wise rule of the Senate and the protection of the Jedi Knights, was the Republic of legend, greater than distance or time. But when it was at its height, it rotted from within though the danger was not visible from outside. Aided and abetted by restless, power-hungry individuals within the government, and the massive organs of commerce, the ambitious Senator Palpatine caused himself to be elected President of the Republic. _

_Once secure in office he declared himself Emperor, shutting himself away from the populace. Soon he was controlled by the very people he had appointed to high office, and the cries of the people for justice did not reach his ears. Having exterminated through treachery and deception the Jedi Knights, guardians of justice in the galaxy, the Imperial governors and bureaucrats prepared to institute a reign of terror among the disheartened worlds of the galaxy. _

_Meanwhile, a tiny planet of green-and-blue at the far end of the Northern Galaxy called Earth was on its seventh year of recovery from the terror brought about by the android named Cell. It was a long and tough battle, but finally, good triumphed over evil, although the said fight robbed the lives of some of the freedom fighters, including that of Son Goku, who refused to be wished back to life through the dragonballs._

_But the peace would not last long. The rebellion against the Empire had begun, and it would only be a matter of time before the bright flame of resistance in the hearts of Earth's protectors, especially that of Son Gohan, would be ignited and used against the Imperials..._

**_I, Jedi_**

Prologue

Two meters tall he was, with flowing black robes and a face forever masked by a functional black metal mask --- the Dark Lord of the Sith was a threatening figure as he strode through the corridors of the rebel ship he and his crew had intercepted in Earth space. Fear followed the footsteps of all the Dark Lords, but this certain one had evil inside of him so intense that it radiated like a blazing supernova, causing the hardened members of the Imperial army to back away and mutter nervously among themselves, and causing the rebel crewmembers to stop resisting and to run away instead.

Darth Vader turned at another passageway in the damaged starfighter, and only a robot was left to stir freely in the wake of the Dark Lord's passing. As See Threepio stepped clear of the restraining cable, he heard human screams from behind him, which could only be the cries of the rebels at their last stand. He looked down, and upon seeing a scarred deck, he called out, "Artoo Detoo, where are you?"

The smoke cleared out after a few moments. He found himself staring at the passageway, and found Artoo Detoo there. He wasn't looking at the taller droid's direction, however. He appeared to be frozen in attention, and leaning over him was --- it was hard, because of all the smoke, for Threepio's electronic photoreceptors to verify what it really was --- a human figure. Young, slim, and beautiful.

The haze thickened once more, and when he reached the end of the corridor, Artoo stood there, waiting.

Alone.

The droid shrugged. He was hallucinating, all right.

"Where have you been?" Threepio finally asked. "Hiding, I suppose! Well, they'll be coming back this way," he went on, nodding down the corridor but not giving the other robot a chance to reply, "looking for human survivors. What are we going to do now? They won't trust the word of rebel-owned machines that we don't know anything of value. We'll be sent to the spice mines of Kessel or taken apart for spare components for other, less deserving robots. That's if they don't consider us potential program traps and blow us apart on sight. If we don't..."

But Artoo had already turned and was making his way back down the passageway.

"Wait! Where are you going? Haven't you been listening to me?" Threepio exclaimed, racing after his friend, muttering curses in various language --- as he was skilled in many --- as he did so. Heaving what was closest to a sigh in droid language, he thought to himself, _Artoo could be downright close-circuited when he wants to be_.

An Imperial officer scrambled down to the fighter's control room, shaking his head briskly. "Nothing, sir. Information retrieval system's been wiped clean," he told Darth Vader who acknowledged the news with a barely perceptible nod. 

Then, the Dark Lord turned to the regard the rebel he was torturing, and a short moment later, his metal-clad fingers contracted. Reaching up, the prisoner desperately tried to pry them loose, but to no avail. "Where is the data you intercepted? What have you done with the information tapes?"

"We... intercepted... no information," the man gurgled, barely able to breathe from Vader's iron grip. From somewhere deep within him, he dredged up a squeal of outrage. "This is a... councilor vessel... Did you not see our... exterior markings? We're on a... diplomatic... mission."

Vader growled as he squeezed harder, tightening his grip on their prisoner. "This ship carries the system crest of Alderaan," he said, leaning closer. "Is any of the royal family on board? Who are you carrying?" His fingers tightened further, and the rebel's struggles became more and more frantic... until he went limp with an awful, unquestionable finality.

Dropping the corpse, the Dark Lord whirled unexpectedly, and his officers shrank under his stare. With a lethal tone in his voice, he ordered, "Start tearing this ship apart piece by piece, component by component, until you find those tapes! As for the passengers, if any, I want them alive." He paused for a moment, then added, "_Quickly!_"

Officers and men nearly fell over themselves as they scrambled out of the room --- not necessarily to carry out Vader's orders, but to simply get as far away from him as possible. The Dark Lord was ill-tempered and quick to anger, and they did not want to die only because of a mood swing.

Blue and green. The two dominant colors of the planet that revolved around a bright, orange-colored sun. It was the third in its star system, the third from the giant ball of gas that gave light and heat to all the other balls of matter that revolved around it, and because of that, Earth was a planet teeming with life.

Three-fourths of the said planet was water; one-fourth was land, made up of seven continents with varying sizes. It had a vast sky that stretched over the miles --- bright blue in the morning, velvet black at night. Its moon, which shone beautifully with light borrowed from the system's sun, glided through the blanket of ever-changing colors, changing form slowly but steadily every month.

Sunlight shone through the layered atmosphere that protected the inhabitants of Earth from ultraviolet radiation and falling stars, and eventually fell on the vast area of land that stretched through the planet in different ways. That same sunlight, however, suddenly shone on the thin skin of a metallic shape falling crazily through the atmosphere...

Towards land...

Towards 439 East Mountain District.

When word came over the communicators in the Imperial spacecraft that the last pocket of resistance on the rebel ship they had captured had been cleaned out, the Captain of the said cruiser relaxed considerably. He was listening with pleasure to the proceedings on the captured vessel when one of his chief gunnery officers called on him. He moved to the man's position, stared into the viewscreen, and saw a tiny dot dropping away towards the watery world below.

"There goes another pod, sir. Instructions?" the officer asked, hovering over a computerized energy battery.

The Captain studied the nearby readouts monitoring the pod, and all of them read blank. There was nothing to fear or to be suspicious about, after all. "Hold your fire, Lieutenant. Instruments show no life forms aboard. The pod's release mechanism msut have short-circuited or received a false instruction. Don't waste your power," he instructed before turning away to listen to the reports about the captured men and the material coming from the rebel ship.

A small, shivering figure clad in flowing white robes hugged the back of the recess and stared up at the man who had walked into the passageway with a pistol at hand. Then he saw that he faced a young woman, and her physical description fit that of the one individual the Dark Lord was most interested in. The Imperial trooper grinned behind his helmet. It was his chance, his chance to be commended. 

He was in luck.

Within the armor his head turned slightly, directing his voice to the tiny condenser microphone. "Here she is," he called to those behind him, "Set for stun forc---"

He never finished the sentence, just as he would never receive commendation he had hoped for. Once his attention turned from the girl to his communicator, her shivering vanished with startling speed, as if it had never existed in the first place. The pistol she hid behind her came up and around as she burst from her hiding place. The trooper who had been unlucky enough to find her fell first, his head a mass of melted bone and metal. The same fate met the second armored form coming up fast behind him.

Then a bright green energy pole touched the woman's side, and she slumped instantly to the deck, the pistol she had used to make the troopers fall still locked in her small, slender palm. Metal-encased shapes then clustered around her. One of them, whose arm bore the insignia of a lower officer, knelt and turned her over, studying her paralyzed form with a practiced eye. "She'll be all right," he declared after some time, looking at up at his subordinates. "Report to Lord Vader."

* * *

_Crossovers are really hard to do, as writing the whole fic is as hard as thinking of the right plot. *rubs head* Anyway, there you have the first installment of my first crossover, please review and tell me what you think. When I thought of crossing DBZ over with Star Wars, I was confused because I had three phases to choose from: the trilogy, the first two episodes, or the books. I wanted to do the books, but I was thinking that many are not familiar with it, and I had trouble thinking up of a plot using the first two episodes. That's why I picked the trilogy! *proud grin*_

**_Next chapter:_**_ The droids arrive on Earth, Gohan intercepts a cryptic message from a beautiful princess, and Videl's jealous. On the other hand, Darth Vader is suspicious about the malfunctioning pod, and he sends down his troops to retrieve it. Will a fleet of Imperial soldiers be too much for Goten to handle?_

**I, Jedi **© Kaz, 2003  
**Dragonball Z **© Akira Toriyama  
**Star Wars **© George Lucas


	2. I, Gohan

**_I, Jedi_**

Chapter One  
_I, Gohan_

"Good morning, Son Gohan!"

The demi-saiyajin froze upon hearing the voice, and with a deep breath, he closed his locker. Leaning against the next one was Satan Videl, the city's Champion of Justice, her arms crossed in front of her as if she had been waiting for him to show up, and rather impatiently. He smiled sheepishly. "Ah... Videl! Good morning," he greeted, preparing to run in case the worst happens.

She sat up straight and smiled in return. "Thanks for yesterday," she told him, but then her eyes narrowed, not permitting him to say anything else. "You can't hide it anymore. You're the Great Saiyaman," she said sharply, pointing his chest for emphasis. Then, she demanded, "You're him, aren't you, Gohan?!"

He sighed. "And I worked so hard to have the perfect costume."

"I was suspicious about the way you talked," she pointed out, not taking her eyes off his. Then, her expression changed drastically, as if she just remembered something that made her confused and disgusted at the same time. "Why do you wear those funny clothes?"

"Well, you see..." he began, looking at the floor as if it was the most interesting thing in the world at that time, "If I wanted my friends to have normal lives, I had to hide how strong I am. So..." he trailed off, not knowing how to continue.

The young woman didn't know how to as well, but she did know how to change the topic. "Your friends?" she asked, then an emotion filled her face that Gohan could not seem to understand. It could be shock, suspicion, disbelief, or a combination of those and everything else, for she exclaimed, "You're the Golden Haired Warrior, too, aren't you?!"

Gohan panicked. "You're wrong there!" he lied, knowing that he shouldn't let her know that. He then decided to change the topic once again, so to leave the Golden Haired Warrior ruckus behind. "Videl, please don't tell anyone else," he pleaded, looking back into her eyes in hopes to convince her.

To his relief, she said, "Maybe I won't." But then, she asked, "Gohan, are you going to the Tenkaichi Budokai, the martial arts competition next month? It'll decide the greatest martial artist in the world, and it's being brought back after being held for a while. My father was the champion the last time. The one before that was a mysterious man, Son Goku. He has the same family name as you do, and that's an unusual name now. Since you have the same name, I think he was your father. Am I wrong?"

"Well..." he stammered, while he thought to herself, _She's pretty clever._

"Thought so," Videl declared proudly, smiling at her discovery. Then her eyes narrowed, the way they did if she'd threaten someone. "You're going to go. Don't you think it'll be interesting for the children of the last two champions to fight at this competition? Since you were able to knock out the monster with a single punch, I'm sure you're pretty strong too."

"I... I'm going to have to pass. I'm not... very interested in that."

"Then I'll tell everyone that you're the Great Saiyaman!"

He paled. "But..."

"If you turn up as the Great Saiyaman, no one will know it's you! Do you want me to tell everyone who you really are? Do you want to destroy your friends _normal _lives?" she threatened, her cerulean eyes glittering dangerously.

The demi-saiyajin had no choice in the matter. She was good at what she was doing. "Okay, okay, okay, I'll go!" he exclaimed, not wanting his true identity to be revealed. That was the reason why he wore a costume in the first place, no matter how ridiculous it looked. Not that he thought it was ridiculous, though.

"I did it!" Videl exclaimed happily, almost giving in to her urge to jump up and down to express her joy. She had done so much in a day --- she figured out who the Great Saiyaman was, she figured out how Son Goku was related to Son Gohan, and finally, she managed to convince Gohan to join the Tenkaichi Budokai. "I'm glad there's someone who's going to be strong enough for me to fight!"

"Oh no," he groaned, not at all delighted by what was going to happen. "This is exactly what I _didn't_ want!"

She looked back at him. "One more thing, Great Son Gohan."

"What now?"

"Teach me how to fly! It wouldn't be fair if you can fly and I can't!"

The demi-saiyajin could not help but groan. He had one misfortune after the other, and here was was, stuck with a blackmailing Videl who demanded that she be taught how to fly. "Okay, Videl," he said with a sigh, as he knew that there was really nothing he could do but follow her wishes. And that was when he was sure of what's going to happen in the tournament. _I can't beat her..._ he thought, wincing.

The binding that locked the girl's hands behind her back was primitive yet very effective. The constant attention the squad of heavily armed Imperial soldiers gave her was quite out of place as she was their captive, but their lives, unfortunately, dependedon her being delivered safely. When she deliberately slowed her pace, however, her captors did not mind mistreating her a little. One of the armored figures shoved her brutally forward, and she nearly fell. Turning, she gave the offender a vicious look, but she could not tell if it had any effect, as the man was wearing a helmet.

The hallway they emerged into was still smoking around the edges of the smoldering cavity blasted through the hull of the fighter. A portable accessway had been sealed to it, bridging the rebel craft to the cruiser. A shadow moved over her as she turned from inspecting the tunnel, startling her despite her usually unshakable self-control.

It was Darth Vader, towering above her with glaring red eyes. A muscle twitched on one of her cheeks, but other than that she didn't react. Nor was there the slightest shake in her voice. "Darth Vader... I should have known. Only you would be so bold --- and so stupid. Well, the Imperial Senate will not sit still for this.When they hear that you have attacked a diplomatic miss---"

"Senator Leia Organa," Vader interrupted softly, although strongly enough to override her protests. He was so pleased to find her that he savored every syllable. He continued, "Don't play games with me, Your Highness. You aren't on any mercy mission this time. You passed directly through a restricted system, ignoring numerous warnings and completely disregarding orders to turn about --- until it no longer mattered."

He leaned forward, closer to her. "I know that several transmissions were beamed to this vessel by spies within that system.When we traced those transmissions back to the individuals with whom they originated, they had the poor grace to kill themselves before they could be questioned. I want to know what happened to the data they sent you."

"I don't know what you're blathering about," she snapped, looking away from him. "I'm a member of the Senate on a diplomatic mission to---"

"To your part of the rebel alliance," Vader declared, cutting her off accusingly. He glared at her in response for her lies. "You're also a traitor." His gaze went to a nearby officer, who noticeably flinched as the Dark Lord's glowing red eyes landed on him. "Take her away."

She succeeded in reaching him with her spit, which hissed against his still-hot battle armor. He wiped the offensive matter away silently, watching her with interest as she was marched through the accessway and into the cruiser. That was when a tall, slim soldier wearing the sign of an Imperial Commander walked right next to Vader. "Holding her is dangerous," he blurted out, likewise looking after her. "If word of this does get out, there will be much unrest in the Senate. It will generate sympathy for the rebels. She should be destroyed immediately."

Vader replied easily, "No. My first duty is to locate that hidden fortress of theirs. All the rebel spies have been eliminated --- by our hand or by their own. Therefore she is now my only key to discovering its location. I intend to make full use of her. If necessary, I will use her up --- but I _will_ learn the location of the rebel base."

The Commander pursed his lips, shook his head slightly, perhaps a bit sympathetically, as he considered the woman. "She'll die before she gives you any information."

"Leave that to me." He considered a moment, then went on. "Send out a wide-band distress signal. Indicate that the Senator's ship encountered an unexpected meteorite cluster it could not avoid. Reading indicate that the shift shields were overriden and the ship was hulled to the point of vacating ninety-five percent of its atmosphere. Inform her father and the Senate that all aboard were killed."

A group of tired-looking warriors marched purposely up to their Commander and the Dark Lord. "The data tapes in question are not aboard the ship. There is no valuable information in the ship's storage banks and no evidence in bank erasur," the officer recited mechanically. "Nor were any transmissions directed outward from the ship from the time we made contact. A malfunctioning lifeboat pod was ejected during the fighting, but it was confirmed at the time that no life forms were on board."

Vader appeared thoughtful, and he took that matter into consideration. "It _could _have been a malfunctioning pod," he mused, "that might also have contained the tapes. Tapes are not life forms. In all probability any native finding them would be ignorant of their importance and would likely clear them for his own use. Still..." he paused to think, then ordered, "Send down a detachment to retrieve them, or to make certain they are not in the pod. Be as subtle as possible; there is no need to attract attention, even on this miserable outpost world."

As the officer and troops departed, the Dark Lord turned his gaze back to the Commander. "Vaporize this fighter --- we don't want to leave anything. As for the pod, I cannot take thechance it was a simple malfunction. The data it might contain could prove too damaging. See to this personally, Commander. If those data tapes exist, they must be retrieved or destroyed at all costs." Then he added with satisfaction, "With that accomplished and the Senator in our hands, we will see the end of this absurd rebellion."

"We seem to have been made to suffer," Threepio moaned in self-pity as they truged along the rocky mountainside, where the pod they boarded crashed on, and towards civilization. Or at least, what seemed to be civilization --- a small house a short way into the distance. "It's a rotten existence. Oh, I've got to rest before I fall apart. My internals still haven't recovered from that crash _you_ called a landing."

He paused, but Artoo did not. The little automaton had performed a sharp turn towards the direction of the house they had spotted. "Hey!" the taller droid yelled, but the little one ignored the call and continued striding. "Are you just going to leave me behind this way?! Have you no sympathy for someone like me?! I'm your friend!"

A long whistled issued from the depths of Artoo.

"Don't get technical with me," the other warned. "I've had just about enough of your decisions."

Artoo whistled, which was something close to a sigh, and went on his way. Threepio, too, heaved what was his own version of a sigh, and followed his companion towards the little establishment that somehow --- as they both hoped, the golden robot, most especially --- was a place to stay in. They went on with slow, tired steps, when something sped out of the house, a tiny blur of black, blue and orange, and headed straight towards them.

"Aaaaaaah! We're under attack!" Threepio screamed in panic as he turned around to run back to their pod, but was knocked to the dirt-laden ground, face down. Something then landed on his back --- a human _boy_, Artoo screeched to him --- who, too, was rubbing his head in pain just as what the tall droid was trying to do. He obviously didn't know that there was something standing in his way when he took flight.

Then, he jumped off, looking at the mess he made. He covered his mouth with his small hands. "Oops. Sorry," he whispered, before he moved forward to help the droid up without trouble. After a few moments, Threepio was back on his feet, but his head was turned the other way around. By the astromech droid's request, the kid flew up and fixed the golden robot's head, grinning proudly after he did so.

Threepio looked at him quizzically, surprised at what he just did, and not really knowing what to say. "Why, thank you, kind sir. But I must request that you don't do that ever again. My joints are weakening, and I don't want my head to plop out of my body when those joints chose to give away. I won't be able to do my functions well if that would ever take place." He stopped as the boy's interest was completely on him. "Oh, how rude of me not to introduce myself. I am See-Threepio, protocol droid and human-droid relation specalist, programmed for over thirty functions and fluent in over six---"

The little droid beeped in interruption.

"Hey Threepio, hey Artoo," the child greeted, landing on his feet, his grin still intact. "I'm Goten, nice to meet you! Come, I'll introduce you to my mother! She cooks the best food! And I'm going to introduce you to my brother, too, but he's still in school right now, so we have to wait until he comes home. I'm also going to introduce you to my friends! It's going to be so much fun!"

As they followed the demi-saiyajin to his home, Threepio thought, _I think I'm going to like it here_, before allowing himself a droid's counterpart of a human smile. He just hoped that the boy's mother would be as kind and cheerful as he was.

"Mom, squirt, I'm home!" Gohan called out cheerfully as he landed on their front lawn. He was about to get in when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned around to come face-to-face with Videl. He sighed, as he had obviously forgotten that the young woman had followed her for flying lessons. "And I've got a visitor!" he finished, before leading his friend inside.

He stopped as soon as they stepped in, however, for something seemed wrong. It seemed too quiet --- at least, in the living room --- and Goten did not run off to greet him with a tackle hug. "Mom? Goten? I'm home," he exclaimed once again, looking around but to no avail. He turned to Videl and told her to sit down and make herself comfortable while he'd go and look for them.

But the demi-saiyajin did not have to do so, however, for a short while after, Chichi and Goten stepped into the house, carrying a couple of plastic bags. Immediately, the youngest of the family dropped his things and rushed to his older brother for a tackle hug, as he did everytime the latter would come home from school. 

_Oh. They've just gone shopping,_ the older of the Son brothers thought in relief. He was beginning to feel afraid at the stillness of their home just a few moments ago. But to his surprise, two robots strode into their house right after the two, the tall human-framed one carrying the rest of the plastic bags.

"Mom?" he called out again, "What's going on? What are those?"

"Artoo and Threepio," Goten chimed in enthusiastically. "They're my friends. Oh, this is---"

He was interrupted by their mother, however, who had squealed out loud as she shook Videl's hand. "I'm so glad to meet you at last, Videl! Gohan told me a lot about you!" she exclaimed, making both teenagers blush noticeably. She then volunteered to escort the young woman on her tour in their home. "I'll show you around, then I'll cook dinner for all of us to enjoy. What would you like to eat, dear?"

As they left the living room, the younger demi-saiyajin continued with their introduction. "Big brother, this is Artoo, and this is Threepio. They're my friends. I found them by the mountains early today. They didn't have a home, so Mama and me took them in. They were so nice to help us," he beamed, earning a smile from Gohan who did his best to ignore the mistake in grammar. "Artoo, Threepio, this is my brother, Gohan. The girl earlier was Videl, and she's my sister!"

"She's _not_ your sister!" Gohan snapped, turning red even more than ever.

"Anyway," the little boy continued, not minding his big brother's interruption, "let's play!" He started jumping up and down, then he flew around in his brother and friends in circles.

"Excuse me, Goten sir," Threepio interrupted politely, before smiling at Gohan. "Oh, nice to meet you, Gohan sir. Well, as I was saying, Goten sir, your mother told me to bring these to the kitchen, then to have Artoo cleaned up. May I bring these to the kitchen?" he asked, referring to the plastic bags he was carrying, before he asked, "And may you clean up Artoo, Goten sir?"

"I'll do it," the older demi-saiyajin volunteered, patting the little droid on the head. "Come on, Artoo, let's get you cleaned up. Goten, you stay with Threepio. And help him bring those stuff into the kitchen." He then walked off towards the back of their house, where the mechanical equipment were, leaving Goten with the talkative Threepio. "At least they're going to have fun talking to each other."

He started scraping the dirt off the astromech droid, and as he did so, he saw a small metal fragment tightly lodged between two bar circuits that normally formed a linkage. Gohan switched to a larger instrument. "Looks like you've got something jammed in here real good, Artoo," he murmured, allowing himself a smile. "How in the world did you get this dirty? Were you on a spaceship or something? And how did you get here anyway?"

"Look who's doing the chores."

"Hey, Videl," he greeted, not even turning his head to address the young woman who came up from behind him and squatted by his side. By then, he could see her face as she moved closer to see what he was doing with the droid, and decided to apologize for his mother's behavior. "I'm sorry about my Mom, she just acts that way whenever a girl comes over to visit us. She wants to get grandchildren, you see, because she can't have any more children."

"Oh, it's completely fine with me. I enjoy the way she's treating me. My mother died when I was very young, you see." Suddenly realizing what Gohan just said, she half-jumped. "What?! Grandchildren?! Oh no, she's not thinking that I-I... w-we... she's isn't, is she?!"

"I'm really sorry for all this, Videl."

She didn't know what to do, how to react, so she forced herself to calm down instead and take her place beside him, as if nothing happened, and to help him out with what he was doing. They stared into each other's eyes for a few heartbeats, before they turned away, blushing. After all, they had just been very close to each other. Videl decided to stand up and stare at the sky, while Gohan chose to finish what he was doing --- that is, cleaning Artoo up. 

The metal he was trying to pry away did so with a powerful _crack_, making the demi-saiyajin back off in reflex. He moved forward to see what happened, when the front part of the droid began to glow, emitting a small three-dimensional image of a very exquisite young woman. 

Despite the superficial sharpness, the image flickered unsteadily, as if the recording had been done with haste. Gohan stared at the foreign colors being projected by the said droid, mesmerized by the sight. And suddenly, the lips of the figuremoved, and the girl spoke --- or at least, seemed to speak. _"Obi-wan Kenobi," _the voice implored, _"help me! You're my only remaining hope."_

Videl spun around to see what was going on.

_"Obi-wan Kenobi, help me! You're my only remaining hope,"_ the image repeated.

The demi-saiyajin sat perfectly still for a long time, his raven eyes on the woman in the hologram that repeated itself over and over. He was considering what he was seeing, but he, too, was admiring the beauty that was displayed before him. Finally, he blinked, and directed his words to his little brother's new friend. "What's this all about, Artoo?"

The stubby droid shifted slightly, and beeped what was somewhat a sheepish reply. That was the moment Threepio and Goten chose to burst into the scene, however, and the protocol droid was mystified. "What is that?" he inquired sharply, gesturing at the speaking image. When only Artoo seemed to know the answer, he demanded, "You were asked a question! What and who is that, and how are you originating it --- and why?"

Artoo beeped in surprise, for all the world as if just noticing the hologram. It was followed by a whistling stream of information, which the other droid tried to digest. Then, the latter frowned --- at least, tried to. "He insists it's nothing, sir," he told Gohan, who was the most confused one of all. Goten apparently didn't care too much, while Videl was sporting a rather strange expression as her gaze flickered from her classmate to the woman in the hologram. "Merely a malfunction --- old data. A tape that should have been erased but was missed. He insists we pay it no mind."

"Who is she?" Gohan demanded, staring enraptured at the hologram, ignoring what Threepio just said. "She's beautiful."

Something flared up from within their visitor, but nobody paid attention to Videl. They were either minding Gohan, or staring at the mysterious transmission. "I really don't know who she is," the taller robot confessed, shaking his head. "I think she might have been a passenger on our last voyage. From waht I recall, she was a personage of some importance. This might have something to do with the fact that our Captain was assistant to---"

"Is there any more to this recording? It sounds like it's incomplete."

Artoo whistled a negative.

Obviously, Threepio was not convinced --- and so was Gohan. But the droid reacted faster. "It's all right, Artoo. He's our master now," he indicated the demi-saiyajin. "You can trust him. I feel that he has our best interests in mind, just like his family. We should be grateful that they allowed us to stay here in the first place!"

The other robot appeared to hesitate, uncertain about what to do next. Then, he whistled, and beeped something that seemed very long and very complicated at his friend.

"He says that he is the property of one Obi-wan Kenobi," Threepio translated after a long pause. "He lives in a planet called Tatooine. The sentence fragment we are hearing is part of a private message intended for that specific person." He then shook his robotic head. "Quite frankly, Gohan sir, I don't know what he's talking about. Our last master was Captain Colton, and I've never heard Artoo metion that he had another master before. I've never heard of Obi-wan Kenobi, too."

"Obi-wan Kenobi... Tatooine..." Gohan murmured thoughtfully, before he averted his gaze to the woman in the hologram. "I wonder who she is. She must be important --- especially if what you told me just now is true, Threepio. She sounds and looks as if she's in some kind of trouble. Maybe the message _is _important. We ought to hear the rest of it."

_Yeah, then you'll go save her because she's beautiful,_ Videl thought bitterly, glaring at the demi-saiyajin who had his back turned against her.

A voice from inside the Son house interrupted them, however. "Gohan! Goten! Videl! Dinner's ready!" Chichi exclaimed, loud enough for them to hear despite the fact that they were quite far from the kitchen. She sounded unusually happy, though, and the older demi-saiyajin knew that he was going to be teased with Videl again.

"See what you can do with him. I'll be back soon," he told Threepio before he rushed into their house, followed closely by Goten and Videl.

A plaintive beep came from Artoo.

"No," Threepio replied stiffly, his mechanical eyes staring at Gohan's disappearing figure, "I don't think he likes you at all." Then, he heard a second beep from the astromech droid, but it did not fail to alter the stern tone in the taller robot's voice. "No, I don't like you either."

Things did not go well after dinner. Artoo refused to play the rest of the message, as it was for his former master Obi-wan Kenobi, which pushed Gohan to make a decision. He was going to see Bulma, ask if she could make a ship for him, so he could go to Tatooine and deliver the droid to Obi-wan Kenobi and find out who the mysterious yet dazzling woman was.

The next day, the demi-saiyajin was very restless. He wanted classes to be over as soon as possible, as he wanted to pay the Briefs a visit already. As soon as the Orange Star High School bell rang in dismissal, he jumped out of his seat, rushed out of the campus and hurried to Capsule Corporation.

Videl, however, was curious at what made him decide to cancel their flying lesson for that day, so she followed him as stealthily as possible. But eventually, she lost him, as he flew too fast for her to follow on her helicopter. She slammed her fists on the control panel, annoyed and frustrated, but then, she stopped. "Why am I feeling this way anyway?!" she exclaimed out loud, confused at what she was bothering her.

_Am I... jealous?_

The smoke that Gohan saw as he drew near his homestead made him panic, and he almost stumbled down as he landed on the grassy ground in a hurry. Dark smoke was drifting steadily from what was once his home, and he tried to penetrate through them to get to his family, but the heat drove him back, coughing and choking.

"Mom! Squirt!" he called out as he charged through the thick smoke once again. It was difficult to make out much of anything through the eye-stinging haze. Two smoking shapes showed further down the corridor, barely visible through tears and haze. They almost looked like--- _No, it can't be!_

He squinted harder, wiping angrily at his uncooperative eyes.

Then, he saw it.

Two bodies, bodies covered with armor that contained the insignia of the Empire, were slumped right before him, but there were more at the other areas of the burning house. At that, a spark of hope ignited in him. The fire could not have taken them out, as they were most probably the ones who caused the fire in the first place, so it could only mean that someone fought them. His brother and mother.

That gave him the strength he needed to rush out of the blazing dwelling, and as he did so, his eyes caught two figures standing amidst the green background, and tears came to his eyes once again. "Mom! Squirt!" he yelled, running towards them and hugging them close. "I was so worried! I..." He found himself unable to speak anymore.

"There goes my frying pan," Chichi whispered with a sigh as she gave the house one last look, then she embraced his son tightly. "We're fine, Gohan. You got to give your brother more credit, you know. He saved us from danger --- just not the house, but that doesn't matter now. We can always get a new one."

The teenager pulled away, rubbing the tears off his raven eyes as he looked at the only family he had left with a huge, very happy smile. He didn't care about their house; all that mattered was that they were alive. However, he could not prevent himself from freezing in shock and admiration as his gaze rested on his seven-year-old little brother, who was beaming at him and grinning from ear-to-ear.

Goten was a Super Saiyajin.

* * *

_First off, I would like to thank all those who read and reviewed, you really gave me the inspiration to work on this fic! And since I'm basically in a Star Wars mood right now --- Jacen and Anakin Solo rock! --- I have the enthusiasm to do this. *grins* Anyway, if you don't mind, I have a few questions to ask with regards to what'll happen in the next chapters:_

_1) Should I make Goten and Chichi go along in their trip to Tatooine?  
2) Should I make Luke Skywalker join their party, or give him something else to do as Gohan practically takes his place?_

_That's all for now. Thank you very much!_

**_Next chapter:_**_ Gohan and friends head to Tatooine to find Artoo-Detoo's master, Obi-wan Kenobi, where our teenage demi-saiyajin learns a thing or two about the Force --- and gets his own lightsaber. But what about Luke? What's going to happen to the supposed-to-be hero of this epic tale, now that someone has taken his place?_

**I, Jedi **© Kaz, 2003  
**Dragonball Z **© Akira Toriyama  
**Star Wars **© George Lucas


	3. I, Voyager

**_I, Jedi_**

Chapter Two  
_I, Voyager_

"Tatooine?!" Chichi shrieked, looking at her eldest son in disbelief. "You're going to go to Tatooine, far out in the galaxy?! Oh no, young man, you are not going anywhere! We may not have a home, but you still have to go to school! You have to concentrate on your studies, Gohan! You can have your adventure later, when you graduate!"

He shook his head. "But Mom, don't you get what's going on?" he asked, trying to make her see his point. "Our house wasn't burned down by---" he looked at Goten who mouthed _white-uniformed soldiers_, "--- white-uniformed soldiers for no reason at all! They wanted to kill us because of we know about the beautiful young woman who needs our help!"

The female Son was about to contradict to her son's statements, but a phrase from all the words he uttered caught her attention. "Beautiful young woman?" she inquired, eyeing the demi-saiyajin suspiciously. "Who is this woman you're talking about? And what do you mean, she needs our help?"

Gohan shrugged. "I don't know who she really is," he confessed, knowing that his chance to go help her depended on his ability to convince his mother to let him go, "but she really needs our help. She had this holographic transmission implanted in Artoo, calling out to Artoo's former master, Obi-wan Kenobi, for help. And he lives in Tatooine." He gestured towards the little astromech. "If you want, Artoo can show you the message! Come on, little one, play that back."

The droid beeped, and although Gohan could not understand what the sound meant, he was sure that it was an affirmative. It didn't take long for Artoo to play the woman's distress call, which totally stunned the doubtful Chichi. Not only was the damsel in distress beautiful, she was genuinely in need of assistance. As the transmission repeated itself, she took a deep breath before resting her gaze at her son. "Very well, then. You can go to Tatooine, but on one condition."

"What is it, Mom?"

Chichi smiled. "You have to take me with you."

Biggs Darklighter suddenly grew silent, apparently in deep thought. He and his friend Luke Skywalker were walking around one of the many small towns scattered among the vast planet of sand and rocks called Tatooine. He stopped, glanced around to check if they were alone, and when he was sure they were, he leaned close to the younger man and said, "Luke, I didn't come back here just to say goodbye, or to crow over everyone because I got through the Academy," with hesitation and uncertainty. His voice was unusually solemn. "But I want somebody to know. I can't tell my parents."

Gaping at him, Luke swallowed. "Know what? What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the talking that's been going on at the Academy --- and other places, Luke. Strong talking. I made some new friends, outsystem friends. We agreed about the way certain things are developing, and---" his voice dropped conspiratorially, "--- when we reach one of the peripheral systems, we're going to jump ship and join the Alliance."

The younger man could not believe what he just heard, so he stared at his friend, trying to picture him as a patriot burning with rebellious fever, which was contrary of his fun-loving, happy-go-lucky, live-for-today self. "You're going to join the rebellion?" he breathed, still unable to recover from his shock. "You've got to be kidding. How?"

Biggs glanced at the power station, making sure that they were still alone, before he continued, "A friend of mine from the Academy has a friend on Bestine who might enable us to make contact with an armed rebel unit. I know it's a long shot. If I don't contact them, then I'll do what I can, on my own." He stared at Luke intensely. "Listen, Luke. I'm not going to wait for the Empire to conscript me into its service. The rebellion is growing, spreading. And I want to be on the right side --- the side I believe in. The Empire may have been great and beautiful once, yes, but with the people in charge now... it's rotten."

"And I can't do a damn thing," Luke muttered morosely, kicking the sand that was present all over the distant planet he lived in. "I'm stuck here."

"I thought you were going to enter the Academy soon? If that's so, then you'll have your chance to get off this sandpile."

Luke could not stop himself from snorting. "Not likely. I had to withdraw my application." He looked away, unable to meet his friend's stare that was filled with surprise and disbelief. "I had to. There's been a lot of unrest among the sandpeople since you left. Uncle Owen might be able to hold off a whole colony with one blaster, but that's from the house. He can't guard the farm, with the vaporators and all, all by himself. I can't run out on him now."

That made his friend sigh sympathetically. "I'm sorry, Luke," he said before patting the younger man on the shoulder encouragingly. "Someday, you're going to learn to separate what seems to be important from what really is important." He pulled away, his gaze far. "What good is all your uncle's work if it's taken over by the Empire? I've heard that they're starting to imperialize commerce in all the outlying systems. It won't be long before your uncle and everyone else here in Tatooine will become slaves for the greater glory of the Empire."

"That couldn't happen here," Luke protested in a seemingly confident tone, although his face didn't quite show it. He looked around the area, seeing dust and sand all over, and then shook his head. "You said it yourself. The Empire won't bother with this planet. It's all dirt, dust, sand and rock. Nothing interesting."

"Oh, but things change. After all, there are two things men have never been able to satisfy: their curiosity and their greed."

At that, both men stood silent. Biggs waited for his friend to react on what he had just told him, while Luke pondered on the situation. True, the planet he was in wasn't much, but things _do_ change. The Empire might one day creep up on them and enslave the whole of Tatooine, giving themselves a handful of soldiers and workers that they can control.

"I wish I was going with you, Biggs. But I don't think I would ever be able to see you again. Even if I'll be able to get into the Academy, I won't be drafted into the starfleet, so if I'm going to see you again, it'll be when the worst happens, when we all have to come together." He sighed. "And even if I would want to see you again, I don't want the worst to happen either."

"We'll never be sure about the future, so we'll never know what'll happen in the time to come. Who knows where I'll end up? Who knows where you'll end up?" Biggs declared, before he brightened, grinning widely as he usually did. "I'll keep a look out for you, hotshot. Try not to run into any canyon walls for the meantime, though." He stepped back. "So long, then, Luke."

Things said and done, Biggs turned around and reentered the power station, while his friend watched him disappear through the door, lost in his own thoughts. What indeed was really important? What if the Empire would really settle down in Tatooine? What good would his presence do in the Rebel Alliance?

Luke shrugged. He didn't know. He didn't know at all.

"Hi, Gohan. I brought you today's homework."

The demi-saiyajin whirled around, surprised at who came to see him. "Hey, Videl," he greeted, wiping the sweat off his brow. He had been helping Bulma on the starfighter she was upgrading for their trip to the distant planet of Tatooine, and it had been hours since he took a break. He moved forward to welcome his classmate before he gestured towards a block of metal that was sturdy and big enough for both of them to sit on. 

"Thanks," he said, taking the piece of parchment he was offered. He paused to look at what the young woman scribbled on it, and then shook his head with a soft smile. "Guess I didn't really miss much... so, how are you? I hope you didn't have to go fight crime alone today --- not that I think you can't handle it on your own," he quickly added, not wanting to get in trouble with her, "I was just... uh... I just didn't want to miss the fun."

Videl's attention, however, was completely on something else. "What's the spaceship for?" she asked, staring at the majestic-looking silver-hued vessel that her classmate and the famous scientist Bulma Briefs-Vegeta had been working on. She cocked her head to the side to bore her gleaming blue eyes into Gohan's black ones. "You're not going to keep another secret from me, are you?"she asked in a threatening tone.

The young man paled considerably, as he never planned to tell anyone else about his plan to go to Tatooine with his mother and brother, but here was the very woman who figured out that he was the green-costumed Great Saiyaman. _Looks like she won this game again, _he said to himself before he stood up and motioned that they talk outside.

The female fighter nodded, standing up and following the other to where he wanted them to discuss the matter. Gohan chose a corner of Capsule Corporation's extensive front lawn, squatting down on the green grass that served as a very nice and comfortable carpet. Videl sat across him, but not very far away, as she knew that what he was going to tell her was supposed to be some secret.

"Well?" she prompted.

"Remember the message Artoo showed us? The one of the woman asking for help from a certain Obi-wan Kenobi?" he asked, and Videl had to stop herself from scowling at the memory of the woman who seemingly captivated the demi-saiyajin. "I've decided to go see him in Tatooine, for I believe that the men who burned our house down and nearly killed my family had something to do with her, or at least, the situation she's in right now."

"Who's going with you?"

"My mom and Goten. Just us."

"I'll go with you."

Those words made Gohan jump up in surprise, hovering a few feet into the air. "W-what?!" he stuttered, disbelief etched on his features. He stared at the young woman who continued to sit down on the grass, a determined, confident expression on her pale, striking features. Finally regaining his composure, the demi-saiyajin squatted back down, but still doubtful. "Are you sure about that, Videl?"

She glared at him. "Of course I am! And don't even think of talking me out of this!" she answered with a snap, folding her arms in front of her chest in resignation. She wanted to go not only because of the adventure the said trip offered, but also to find out who the mysterious woman was, and what she had to offer. When her friend had a look of uncertainly on his face, she assured him, "I'll be fine. I won't get in your way, or bring you trouble. It's better to bring me along that your mother and Goten, because I'm stronger than they are. Besides, Goten's only seven."

_But a lot stronger than you, not the other way around,_ he told himself, but did not even think of voicing it out, as he knew it would offend the Champion of Justice of Satan City. He considered her offer for a few silent moments, and because he cared for his family so much, he decided to go with what she proposed to do. "I don't really want to disobey my mother, but... you got a point. All right, we're going."

The two boys stared at the impressive-looking starfighters that were stationed on the grounds of Capsule Corporation in awe. They had never seen anything like them, so as much at that close a distance. "You're so lucky," the eight-year-old demi-saiyajin began, eyeing the vessels enviously with his sparkling cerulean eyes. "You get to ride on something like that on a trip through outer space. I wish I could go with you!"

"Why don't you?" his best friend asked, turning to look at him with raven eyes.

"My mom's going to kill me, to begin with. And if that's not enough, my dad will most probably kill me, too, for sneaking out just like that. But then again --- your mother's coming, right?" he asked with hopeful eyes. When the younger boy nodded, a smirk appeared on his face, drastically changing the expression he was sporting. "All right, let's sneak aboard! Which ship are they gonna be taking?"

Goten paused thoughtfully for a moment, before he pointed at the bigger spacecraft. "That one."

"When are they leaving?"

"Tomorrow morning, at seven o'clock."

At that, Trunks pulled his best friend close to him, close enough to whisper his plans to the other's ear without anyone else from hearing. Afterwards, he took a step back and grinned crookedly; the younger demi-saiyajin doing the same. "Well, it's time for the adventure of a lifetime," he announced proudly, lifting his hand for a high-five. As the other boy's palm touched his, he exclaimed in an excited whisper, "Tatooine, here we come!"

The holding chamber was undeniably dim, with only the bare minimum of illumination provided that was merely not enough, compared to the vast expanse of black and its neighboring shades. There, too, was barely enough to see, as the cell was mostly comprised of metal walls and a high ceiling and was mostly designed to maximized the prisoner's feelings of helplessness and impotence.

The occupant of the said room nearly jumped up as a hum came from one end, causing her to tense even more than she already was. The metal door that was as thick as her body, unbelievable as it may seem, began to move aside. She knew that they were afraid that she would escape through anything less massive with only her bare hands for a weapon. They didn't like to underestimate their captives, and they weren't underestimating her at all.

Straining to see what was going on, she saw several Imperial guards position themselves just outside the doorway, preparing to welcome their master, the Sith Lord, Vader. Eyeing all of them as defiantly as she could, Princess Leia Organa backed up against the far wall, but her determined facade disappeared into oblivion as soon as a monstrous black form strode into the room, gliding smoothly almost as if he was floating.

Darth Vader's presence overwhelmed her, crushed her like she was the most fragile object in all the galaxy. He was followed by a man who was only slightly less terrifying, despite his miniscule appearance alongside the Dark Lord. At that, he made a gesture to someone outside, and it didn't take long for something that hummed like a huge bee slipped through the doorway. It hung suspended in the air, a mixture of metal arms coming out from all sides, arms with a multitude of delicate instruments.

The young woman studied the contraption fearfully. She heard rumors about such machines, but she never really believed that the Empire constructed such monsters. Incorporated into its soulless memory was every barbarity, every substantiated outrage known to mankind --- and to several alien races as well.

The two villains stood there quietly, giving the princess plenty of time to study the hovering nightmare. The Governor, Tarkin, in particular did not delude himself into thinking that the mere presence of the device would shock her into giving up the information he needed. Not, he reflected, that the upcoming session would be especially unpleasant.

There was always enlightenment and knowledge to be gained from such encounters, and the young woman promised to be a most interesting subject. After all, not only was she stubborn, she was determined to keep the location of the rebel base a secret, even if she would lose her life for such defiance.

After a suitable interval has passed, Tarkin motioned to the machine and smiled at their prisoner. "Now, Senator Organa... _Princess _Organa, we will discuss the location of the principal rebel base," he whispered as the machine slowly moved toward her, traveling on a rising hum that sent her against the wall in absolute fear. Its indifferent spherical form blocked out Vader, the Governor, the rest of the cell... and finally, the light.

Videl could not understand what she felt as the darkness gave way to daylight; all she knew was that she was going on an adventure to the far end of the galaxy with a certain Gohan to save a princess. She didn't know what to think; she didn't know what to expect --- and that caused her to stay up and not sleep at all.

The next thing she knew, it was half past five in the morning. The sun had just crept out of the mountains, and was illuminating the world in its light. Quickly, she grabbed her bags and prepared to leave; Capsule Corporation was quite a distance away, after all. And most importantly, she did not want anyone to see her soaring through the light-colored sky, carrying everything she would ever need in their rescue operation.

Meanwhile, in Capsule Corporation, the troublemaking duo crept up to the large black-hulled spaceship and positioned themselves in the secret compartment at the bottom of the vessel, waiting patiently for everyone else to go on board. They could already hear voices, and they knew that they would leave the planet anytime soon.

"Everyone still asleep?"

"Not really. Mom's in the shower. If we want to leave on our own, we have to do it now," Gohan replied, loading his classmate's stuff into the majestic-looking silver-tinted starfighter. "I spent the whole night studying the controls, and I'm sure I can get us off here and towards Tatooine without trouble."

That was the last thing the boys heard, before the loud roar of the engines and the booming noise of a departing craft. At that, Trunks looked at Goten in confusion. "Is it just me, or aren't we moving at all? I feel like we're still on the ground."

They waited for a few more moments to see if the situation would change, but it didn't. Instead, they heard shrieks and screams from the outside, and disappointed cries that could only come from Chichi. Thinking that something had gone wrong, they popped out of their hiding place and rushed to the window to see what was going on...

... only to find the silver spacecraft missing.

While confusion overcame the other expressions of the younger demi-saiyajin, the older of the two slapped his forehead. "Goten, you _idiot_," he began with irritation, his face a jumble of emotions. He knew his best friend wasn't very smart, but he didn't think that he was really _that _dumb. "We're on the _wrong_ ship!"

"Gohan, sir," See-Threepio began politely, struggling towards the cockpit where the two teenagers sat. He was having a particularly hard time, as his master wasn't a pilot and he was steering the piece of metal with too much force, sending them either too far to the right or too far to the left. He continued his statement, anyway. "I don't think it was wise that you left your mother like that. You agreed to take her with you, but you left her behind."

"It's for her own safety, Threepio, as well as that of my brother," the demi-saiyajin answered, clutching the controls tightly in concentration. The trip past the Earth's atmosphere was particularly difficult; it was too turbulent and too tough to maneuver. Finally, their spaceship broke past the exosphere, and they were in outer space at last. "All right, we're about to enter hyperspace. Hang on to something."

"Master Gohan---"

The droid's prissy voice was cut off by a blaring sound as their ship plunged into hyperspace. As the stars turned into starlines, a lonely expression crossed the teenagers' faces, for they knew that it would be a long time before they would be able to return from where they came from.

Beru Lars, Luke's aunt, was filling a pitcher with blue liquid from a refrigerated container. Behind her, in the simple-looking dining room, a conversation between her husband, Owen, and her nephew, Luke, was taking place. As their talk went on, she sighed sadly. The men's discussions had grown steadily more quarrelsome as the boy's restlessness pulled him in directions other than farming, which was something the older man didn't like. He was a man of the soil --- if there was ever one --- and he absolutely had no sympathy.

Returning the bulk container to the refrigerator unit, she placed the pitcher on a trap and hurried back to the dining room. Beru was not a brilliant woman, but she possessed an instinctive understanding of her important position in this household. As long as she was present, the men in the family would not explode into catastrophic arguments that would tear them apart.

As she stepped into the room, the two lowered their voices to something civilized and shifted the subject. She, on the other hand, pretended not to notice the change. But it didn't take long for the friendly conversation to get going, for a moment later, Luke said, "Uncle Owen, I think the droids are going to work out just fine. In fact, I---" He paused, hesitating. "I was thinking about our agreement about me staying on for another season."

His uncle failed to react, so Luke rushed on before his nerve failed. "If these new droids do work out, I want to transmit my application to enter the Academy for next year."

Owen scowled, trying to hide the displeasure he felt with the food they were eating. He wanted the boy by his side, to help him with the harvest, but here he was, persisting that he go to that Academy so he could eventually go up to the stars. "You mean, you want to transmit the application next year --- _after_ the harvest."

"You have more than enough droids now, and they're in good condition," the younger man insisted.

"Droids, yes," the farmer agreed, "but they can't replace a man, Luke. You know that. The harvest is when I need you the most. It's just for one more season after this one." When the silence became deafening, as Luke simply toyed with his food and did not eat a bite nor say a word, he continued, "Listen. For the first time we've got a chance for a real fortune. We'll make enough to hire some extra hands for the next time. Not droids --- people. Then you can go to the Academy."

"It's another year," his nephew objected sullenly. After all, how many times had he heard that before? How many times had they repeated this identical charade with the same result? He sighed. "Another _year_."

"Time will pass before you know it."

"That's what you said last year when Biggs left."

At that, the young man abruptly rose, shoving his barely touched plate of food aside. He then spun around and half ran from the room, making his aunt call out to him worriedly, asking where he was going. He stopped, his head bowed, and replied, "Looks like I'm going nowhere." He paused to swallow the painful lump that crept up to his throat, then added out of consideration for his aunt's sensibilities, "I have to finish cleaning those droids if they're going to be ready to work tomorrow."

Silence hung in the air of the dining room after Luke departed. Husband and wife ate mechanically, not saying a word. Eventually, though, Beru stopped shoving her food around her plate, looked up and pointed out earnestly, "Owen, you can't keep him here forever. Most of his friends are gone, the people he grew up with. The Academy means so much to him."

"I'll make it up to him next year. I promise. We'll have money --- or maybe, the year after that."

"Luke's just not a farmer, Owen," she continued firmly, not lifting her gaze off her husband. "He never will be, no matter how hard you try to make him one. He will never stay here forever, no matter how hard we try to keep him. He will go away, to the stars, just like the man who came before him. He's got too much of his father in him."

For the first time during that meal, the farmer looked thoughtful --- and more importantly, concerned --- as he gazed down at the passage Luke had taken. "That's what I'm afraid of, Beru," he whispered, "That's what I'm afraid of."

* * *

_First of all, I would like to apologize for the delay of this chapter. It's called lack of inspiration, the cousin of writer's block. Whee. Second, I would like to apologize for not covering all the parts that I intended to cover in this chapter; Gohan's encounter with Luke and Obi-wan, I'm afraid, would have to wait until the next installment. Third, I would like to thank all of you for reviewing, and most especially for your wonderful ideas! I had trouble picking from everything you suggested, but eventually I managed to iron everything out. But if you have anything more to suggest, please do! I'd love to hear your ideas._

_Some other things... yes, Goten's supposed to understand Artoo's binary. He had some kind of empathy towards animals in the series, so I was thinking of giving him the ability to understand other beings that can't speak human languages. And even though he was not able to go with Gohan in the trip, he will make an appearance in the later chapters. After all, we can't have the troublemaking duo just shoved aside without doing some fun damage, can we? So if you have bright ideas on where to make them show up again, please let me know. _

**_Next chapter:_**_ Gohan, Videl and the droids arrive in Tatooine, where they meet Luke, and the Jedi Master Obi-wan who teaches them a thing or two about the Force. But what's this --- Videl's crushing over a naive farmboy? Things are beginning to get complicated..._

**I, Jedi **© Kaz, 2003  
**Dragonball Z **© Akira Toriyama  
**Star Wars **© George Lucas


	4. I, Listener

**_I, Jedi_**

Chapter Three  
_I, Listener_

Luke Skywalker strode slump-shouldered in his uncle's shadow dejectedly, not at all exhausted by all the chores he had to do. He had been thinking about many things, especially since the day two mysterious off-worlders and two droids arrived to seek refuge in their home, and those things had very little to do --- in fact, those things had _nothing_ to do --- with farming. It involved the rest of his life, and the commitment made by his best friend Biggs Darklighter who had recently departed beyond the blue sky of the sand-laden planet of Tatooine to enter a harsher, yet more rewarding career. His new friends, two teenagers by the names Gohan Son and Videl Satan, didn't help take his mind off space either. Their stories enchanted him even more than they intended to, and he desired to travel with them, wherever their quest to deliver the urgent message would lead them.

But it broke Luke's heart when he found out that the astromech droid belonged to someone named Obi-wan Kenobi, as he had the gut feeling that the hermit he knew by the name of Ben was the same man his new friends were looking for. And their quest would take him nowhere off the planet, which was what he desired above everything else. He had been farming for many, many years, it sickened him. He wanted to go to other planets on an exciting and breathtaking adventure, he wanted to fly a real starfighter --- the latest model of an X-Wing, most preferably --- in a real battle.

He sighed. There was no way he was getting there.

His uncle, Owen Lars, then stopped before an assembly of droids and the Jawas who wanted to sell them, and entered an exchange of squeaks and other sounds that appeared to be a form of conversation with the one in charge. Luke stood nearby, listening indifferently, yet he was forced to tag along when his uncle began inspecting three machines, pausing only to mutter an occasional word or two to his nephew. Luke didn't like how he was treated, but he was forced to live with it, especially because he was supposed to learn from the experience he was going through.

"Luke!" a voice called from his home, and glad to have an excuse to turn away from the conversation, which consisted of the lead Jawa extolling the unmatched virtues of all five machines and his uncle countering with much derision, Luke walked over to the near edge of the subterranean courtyard and peered down. He expected to see his aunt, the stout Beru Lars who liked to work among the decorative plants, but instead, he saw a raven beauty with cerulean eyes that was even more captivating than the sky that stretched about them. Looking up at him, she said, "Your aunt wants a droid that can speak Bocce. I told her that she can have Threepio, but she insisted that you get your own. Sorry to disturb you or anything, I was going to---"

He flashed a smile, his eyes gazing at her with admiration. "That's all right, Videl. I wasn't having much fun myself," he told her, before he turned around slightly to study the collection of tired machines that the Jawas were trying to sell to them. Again, he sighed, then looked back down at her. "It looks like we don't have much of a choice, but I'll remind him anyway. Kindly relay that to my aunt."

Luke then hurried to rejoin his uncle, who had apparenly come to a decision, settling on a small semi-agricultural robot. It was similar to the astromech droid their guests brought with them, the one they called Artoo Detoo, except that its multiple subsidary arms were tipped with different functions. At an order, it stepped out of the line and wobbled along behind Owen and the Jawa merchant. Luke, who had arrived at his uncle's side by then, tapped Owen on the shoulder and whispered something in his ear. The older man shook his head, however. "They don't have that kind of droid, Luke. We'll have to settle for that blabbing golden one your friends brought along for the meantime." He then gestured towards their new droid. "Take it down to the garage. I want you to have it cleaned up by suppertime."

"But I was going into Tosche Station to pick up some new power converters and---"

"Don't lie to me, Luke," his uncle warned him in a stern tone that he seemed to use a lot recently. "I don't mind you wasting time with your idle friends, but only after you've finished your chores. Now hop to it --- and before supper, mind."

Downcast, Luke started for the garage, dragging their new droid along as his uncle entered into price negotiations with the Jawa. The other Jawas led the two remaining machines back into their sandcrawler. Ignoring everything else that was going on, he headed for the garage, when he heard See-Threepio's name being called out by his friends, and the protocol droid's voice poured in frantically soon after. "It wasn't my fault, Master Gohan, Mistress Videl! Please don't deactivate me! I told him not to go, but he's faulty! He must be malfunctioning! Something has actually boiled his logic circuits! He kept babbling about seeing Obi-wan Kenobi! Such delusions of grandeur that droid has! Such things shouldn't even be within---"

Luke didn't even let the droid finish. He was already towering above Threepio and the two off-worlders by then, gaping. "You mean..?"

"Yes, sir," Threepio admitted, although his tone was just as frantic as it was earlier. "He's gone."

Racing into the garage to check if Artoo was there, hoping against hope that Threepio was bluffing, Luke found himself utterly disappointed. Finding nothing, he rushed back out, joining Gohan, Videl and the droid at a small ridge that formed the highest point close by the homestead, and brought out his precious macrobinoculars to scan the desert that surrounded them. He looked for something small, metallic, three-legged and out of its metallic mind along the horizons, but found nothing. "Well, he's nowhere in sight."

Gohan patted the young man on the shoulder to comfort him. "We'll look for him, Luke. Besides, it's not like he's your problem anyway. He's our droid. At least for the time being." He then looked behind them to see if Owen was still negotiating with the Jawas, and seeing that he still was, he lowered his voice considerably and asked Luke, "I'm sure he's looking for Obi-wan Kenobi, though, as he had been anxious to get to him. Could you possibly bring us to that Ben Kenobi person? I know his name isn't Obi-wan, but I don't think it's simply a coincidence regarding his last name."

The other hesitated, fearing what his uncle would do to him if he would disappear just like that, but then, he remembered that his uncle agreed that he hang out with his friends _after_ finishing his chores. An idea struck him. "I'll do it, Gohan," he answered, still keeping his voice low. He then smiled at him, cocking his head to the side slightly to expose his smile to Videl, who had undeniably caught his eye. She was strong, witty and pretty, definitely a very attractive off-worlder. "But on one condition. You have to help me finish my chores. Then we go see Ben."

"It's him, all right," Luke declared as the tiny tripodal form came into their view. The speeder baked and swung down onto the floor of a huge sandstone canyon, maneuvered excellently by the budding pilot. He then slipped his rifle out from behind the seat and swung it over his shoulder, taking the necessary precautionary measures. Gohan only looked on, seemingly uncaring and very casual, but he was ready to spring into action if ever he would be called upon. "Come round in front of him, Threepio," the farmboy continued as the protocol droid replied with an affirmative.

The Artoo unit obviously noted their approach, but made no move to escape; it could hardly have outrun the landspeeder anyway. The astromech droid simply halted as soon as it detected them and waited until the craft swung around in a smooth arc. Threepio, too, came to a halt, sending up a low cloud of sand on the smaller robot's right. Then the whine from the landspeeder's engine dropped to a low idling hum as the protocol droid put it in parking mode. A last sigh, and the craft stopped completely.

After finishing a cautious survey of the canyon, Luke led his companions out onto the gravelly surface and up to Artoo, although Gohan and Videl simply jumped out of the landspeeder without trouble. Before anyone could say a word, however, Videl strode up in front of the droid and asked as she towered over him, "Just where did you think you were going, Artoo?"

A feeble whistle issued from the apologetic robot, but it was Threepio who did most of the talking. "Master Gohan and Mistress Videl are our rightful owners now, Artoo. How could you just amble away from them like that? From me like that? Now that he's found you, let's have no more of this _Obi-wan Kenobi_ gibberish. I don't know where you picked that up --- or that melodramatic hologram, either." As Artoo protested, Threepio snapped back, "And don't talk to me about your mission! What rot! You're fortunate Master Gohan and Mistress Videl doesn't blast you into a million pieces right here and now!"

Gohan, however, thought otherwise. "But that's what we came here for, Threepio," he explained, stepping into the protocol droid's view. "We came here to deliver the message to Obi-wan Kenobi, and see what it's all about. And now that we're here, we better go and look for him, before the darkness gets to us. Or else Luke here will get in trouble, and we don't want that to happen, do we?" He then nodded towards Luke. "Lead the way. We'll just---"

Without warning, the astromech droid suddenly leaped off the ground --- no mean feat considering the weakness of the spring mechanisms in his three thick legs, his cylindrical-shaped body twisting and spinning as he let out a frantic concert of whistles, hoots, and electronic exclamations. However, nobody seemed to be alarmed. Videl only raised an eyebrow, wondering what it all meant. Gohan just stood in his place and watched, a part of him wishing he brought his brother along, his brother who understood the droid's binary. Luke looked tired. "What is it? What's wrong with him now?"

"Oh my, sir," Threepio gasped after looking around anxiously. "Artoo claims there are several creatures of unknown types approaching from the southeast."

That _could_ be another attempt by Artoo to distract his companions, but the three humans didn't want to take the chance. Instantly, he had his rifle off his shoulder and had activated the energy cell, while Videl dropped into a cautious fighting stance. Only Gohan didn't move, but it was evident in the way his eyes narrowed that he was aware of what was going on. They then examined the horizon in the indicated direction as the protocol droid prattled on in panic, but saw nothing.

But then, sandpeople were experts in making themselves unseeable, and Luke warned his friends about that. "There are some awfully strange things living out here. Not all of them have been classified. It's better to treat anything as dangerous until determined otherwise. Of course, if it's something utterly new..." His curiousity got to him. In any case, he felt that it was just another ruse created by their runaway astromech droid. "Let's take a look," he finally decided, and he moved cautiously forward, his companions close by. Once at the top of the high dune crest he lay flat and traded his rifle for the macrobinoculars. Below, another canyon spread out before them, rising to a wind-weathered wall of rust and ocher. Advancing the binoculars slowly across the canyon floor, he settled unexpectedly on two tethered shapes.

Banthas --- and _riderless!_

Something dark suddenly blocked his sight, and for a moment, Luke thought that a rock might have moved in front of him. Irritably, he dropped the binoculars and reach out to move the blinding object aside, and his hand touched something like soft metal. It was a bandaged leg about as big around as both of Luke's together. Shocked, he looked up... and up. The towering figure glaring down at him was no Jawa. It had seemingly erupted straight from the sand.

"What happened?"

"Rest easy, son," an old man instructed him as he sat back on his heels. He had appeared in the midst of the battle between the Tusken Raiders to assist the struggling Gohan and Videl, who had difficulties in keeping up at the immense number of beings that appeared from all over the place. He had used some sort of trick involving his voice to scare the sandpeople away. He then sat back on his heels, still looking at Luke, who had just recovered from the blow that struck him unconscious. "You've had a busy day. You're mighty lucky your head's still attached to the rest of you."

Luke looked around, his gaze coming to rest on the elderly face hovering above him. Recognition did wonders for his condition. "Ben... it's got to be!" A sudden remembrance made him look around fearfully, but there was no sign of the sandpeople. Only the two droids, only the two teenagers, and the old man. Slowly, he raised his body to a sitting position. "Ben Kenobi... am I glad to see you!"

Rising, the old man surveyed the canyon floor and rolling rimwall above. One foot played with the sand as he cautioned them about the area they chose to travel into. "The Jundland wastes are nto to be traveled lightly. It's the misguided traveler who tempts the Tuskens' hospitality." His gaze went back to his patient, but not before sweeping his gaze at the young man's companions. "Tell me, young man, what brings you and your friends this far into nowhere?"

"This little droid," Luke indicated Artoo. "For a while I thought he'd gone crazy, claiming that he was searching for a former master. Now I don't think so. I've never seen such devotion in a droid --- misguided or otherwise. There seems to be no stopping him."

"He claims to be the property of someone called Obi-wan Kenobi," Gohan pitched in, trying to be helpful. As soon as he said that, their gazes flew to the old man, watching him closely, but the hermit showed no reaction, to their disappointment. But he still continued. "Luke told me that he knew you, so I asked him if he would lead us to you, presuming that Artoo did escape to look for you. Is that Obi-wan a relative of yours? Or is he just some unimportant bit of scrambled information that got shifted into his primary performance bank?"

An introspective frown did remarkable things to the sandblasted face of Ben. He appeared to ponder the question, scratching absently at his scruffy beard. "Obi-wan Kenobi," he recited. "Obi-wan... not that's a name I haven't heard in a long time. A long time. Most curious."

"My uncle said he was dead."

"Oh, he's not dead. Not yet, not yet."

Luke was then up on his feet, excited. "You know him, then?"

A smile of perverse youthfulness split that collage of wrinkled skin and beard. "Of course I know him: he's _me_. Just as you probably suspected, Luke. I haven't gone by the name _Obi-wan_, though, since before you were born." His expression, however, turned into one of puzzlement as he looked at the astromech droid that claimed to belong to him. "The peculiar part is, I can't seem to remember owning a droid, lease of all a modern Artoo unit. Most interesting, most interesting." Something drew the old man's gaze suddenly to the brow of nearby cliffs. "I think it's best we make use of your landspeeder. The sandpeople are easily startled, but they'll soon return in greater numbers."

Placing both hands over his mouth in a peculiar fashion, Ben inhaled deeply and let out an unearthly howl that made the three humans jump. "That ought to keep any laggards running for a while yet," the old man concluded with satisfaction. He then saw Luke gaping at him, identifying what he did to be the _krayt dragon call_ with much astonishment, and asked how he did it. "I'll show you sometime, son. It's not too hard. Just takes the right attitude, a set of well-used vocal cords, and a lot of wind. But this isn't the time or place for that. Let's go inside."

Ben's focused his attention on Artoo as the others looked around the cave he called his home. The squat droid sat passively on the cool cavern floor while the old man fiddled with its metal insides. Finally, the man sat back with satisfaction and closed the open panels in the robot's rounded head. "Now let's see if we can figure out what you are, my little friend, and where you came from."

"I saw part of the message," Gohan began, "and I..."

Once again, the striking portrait was being projected into empty space from the front of the little robot. Gohan broke off, enraptured by its enigmatic beauty once again. Luke, seeing the message for the first time, had the similar reaction; while Videl, who was leaning against the wall at the far end of the cave, only scowled. _Who in the galaxy is that woman anyway, and why does she seem to be able to enthrall teenage boys just like that?!_

The image continued to flicker, indicating a tape hastily prepared. But it was much sharper, better defined now, Gohan noted with admiration. One thing was apparent: Ben was skilled in subjects more specific than desert scavenging. He was snapped out of his thoughts, however, as the mellow voice he had heard a handful of times flooded into the cave once again. _"General Obi-wan Kenobi, I present myself in the name of the world family of Alderaan and of the Alliance to Restore the Republic. I break your solitude at the bidding of my father, Bail Organa, Viceroy and First Chairman of the Alderaan system."_

The old man absorbed the extraordinary information calmly while the younger humans' eyes widened considerably.

_"Years ago, General, you served the Old Republic in the Clone Wars. Now my father begs you to aid us again in our most desperate hour. He would have you join him on Alderaan. You must go to him. I regret that I am unable to present my father's request to you in person. My mission to meet personally with you has failed. Hence I have been forced to resort to this secondary method of communication. Information vital to the survival of the Alliance has been secured in the mind of this Detoo droid. My father will know how to retrieve it. I plead with you to see this unit safely delivered to Alderaan."_

She paused, and when she continued, her words were hurried and less laced with formality. _"You must help me, Obi-wan Kenobi. You are my last hope. I will be captured by agents of the Empire. They will learn nothing from me. Everything to be learned lies locked in the memory cells of this droid. Do not fail us, Obi-wan Kenobi. Do not fail me."_ Then, a small cloud of tridimensional static replaced the delicate portrait, then it vanished entirely. Artoo glanced up expectantly at Ben.

Luke's mind was suddenly as muddy as a pond laced with petroleum. Unanchored, his thoughts and eyes turned for stability to the quite figure seated nearby. The old man. The crazy wizard. The desert bum and all-around character whom his uncle and everyone else known of for as long as Luke could recall. "General Kenobi, you fought in the Clone Wars? But... that was so long ago."

The question about what the Clone Wars was almost came out of Gohan's mouth, but Videl silenced him with a glare. She was just as confused as he was, and if they were going to uncover information and find things out, they would have to listen. And just like Gohan, she only knew one thing for sure: something wrong, _very wrong_, was going on, and that woman's plea for help was only the beginning of a more complicated situation.

"Um, yes," Ben acknowledged Luke's question, as casually as he might have discussed the recipe for shang stew. "I guess it was a while back. I was a Jedi Knight once. Like your father," he finished, watching the youth appraisingly. As expected, Luke objected to the information that was relayed to him, saying that his father was only a navigator on a space freighter. "Or so your uncle has told you. Owen Lars didn't agree with your father's ideas, opinions, or with his philosophy of life. He believed that your father should have stayed here on Tatooine and not gotten involved in..." He shrugged indifferently. "Well, he thought he should have remained here and minded his farming. Owen was always afraid, you see, that your father's adventurous life might influence you, might pull you away from Anchorhead. I'm afraid there wasn't much of the farmer in your father."

At that, Luke turned away. He turned to cleaning the particles of sand from Threepio's healing armature. "I wish I'd known him."

"He was the best pilot I ever knew, and a smart fighter. The Force... the instinct was strong in him. He was also a good friend." Suddenly the boyish twinkle returned to those piercing eyes along with the old man's natural humor. "I understand you're quite a pilot yourself. Piloting and navigation aren't hereditary, but a number of the things that can combine to make a good small-ship pilot are. Those you may have inherited. Still, even a duck has to be taught to swim. In many ways, you know, you are like your father. All this reminds me... I have something here for you."

He then rose and walked over to a bulky, old-fashioned chest and started rummaging through it. All sorts of intriguing items were removed and shoved around, only to be placed back in the bin. Gohan, good-natured as he was, wanted to help out, but Videl once again warned him off. It was the old man's business, she relayed. Whatever the old man needed to find, he could find it on his own. Besides, it was his stuff, and not theirs.

"When you were old enough," Ben was saying, "your father wanted you to have this... if I can ever find the blasted device. I tried to give it to you once before, but your uncle wouldn't allow it. He believed you might get some crazy ideas from it and end up following old Obi-wan on some idealistic crusade. You see, Luke, that's where you father and your uncle Owen disagreed. Lars is not a man to let idealism interfere with business, whereas your father didn't think the question even worth discussing. His decision on such matters came like his piloting --- instinctively."

Ben let out a grun, then with a satisfied expression on his features, he walked over and handed the young man a small device, which Luke studied with interest. Even Gohan and Videl moved closer to examine what it was, for it looked very intruiging. It consister primarily of a short, thick handgrip with a couple of small switches set into the grip. Above this small post was a circular metal disk barely larger in diameter than his spread palm. A number of unfamiliar, jewellike components were built into both handle and disk, including what looked like the smallest power cell Luke had ever seen. The reverse side of the disk was polished to a mirror brightness. But it was the power cell that puzzled Luke the most. Whatever the thing was, it required a great deal of energy, according to the rating form of the cell.

"What is it?" he finally asked, unable to identify the device.

"Your father's lightsaber. At one time, they were widely used. Still are, in certain galactic quarters." He paused upon seeing that Luke had activated the weapon, revealing a soft blue-white beam that caused astonishment to him and his friends. "This was the formal weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster. More skill than simple sight was required for its use. An elegant weapon. It was a symbol as well. Anyone can use a blaster or a fusioncutter --- but to use a lightsaber _well_ was a mark of someone a cut above the ordinary. You see, for over a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights were the most powerful, most respected force in the galaxy. They served as the guardians and guarantors of peace and justice in the Old Republic."

The teenage demi-saiyajin looked puzzled. He knew nothing about the so-called _Jedi Knights_, and if they did truly exist, where were they when his own planet was in peril? And would they have been able to defeat monsters like Freeza and Cell by waving around swords of bright light? Did they even know how to use ki? Did they use ki in operating the thing Ben called _lightsaber_? Were they capable of flying? Wasn't Earth part of the Old Republic? He had so many questions, yet he seemed to know that he would get no answers. It appears as though his planet was far out for the Jedi Knights to get involved with.

"How," Luke asked slowly, "did my father die?"

"He..." Ben hesitated, and the young man sensed that the old man had no wish to talk about this particular matter. However, he was the kind of man who was unable to take refuge in a comfortable lie. "He was betrayed and murdered by a very young Jedi named Darth Vader. A boy I was training. One of my brightest disciples... one of my greatest failures. Vader used the training I gave him and the Force within him for evil, to help the later corrupt Emperor. With the Jedi Knights disbanded, disorganized, or dead, there were few to oppose Vader. Today they are all but instinct."

"Force? That's the second time you've mentioned a _force_," Luke observed.

"Yeah, what _is_ this force you keep talking about?" Videl seconded.

Ben nodded. "Let us simply say that the Force is something a Jedi must deal with. While it has never been properly explained, scientists have theorized it is an energy field generated by living things. Early man suspected its existence, yet remained in ignorance of its potential for millenia. Only certain individuals could recognize the Force for what it was. They were mercilessly labeled: charlatans, fakers, mystics --- and worse. Even fewer could make use of it. As it was usually beyond their primitive controls, it frequently was too powerful for them. They were miunderstood by their fellows --- and worse." He then made a wide, all-encompassing gesture with both arms. "The Force surrounds each and every one of us. Some men believe it directs our actions, and not the other way around. Knowledge of the Force and how to manipulate it was what gave the Jedi his special power."

"So not everybody can use the _Force?_"

"It exists everywhere, but only a few are sensitive to it," the old man answered with a curt nod. "If those who are sensitive to the Force undergo training, they will eventually learn how to use it in different ways, just like Jedi Knights. However, one must be careful in using the Force, as negative emotions can lead a Jedi to the dark side. But before anything else, those who are Force-sensitive must be identified --- and I see two of them right now."

His gaze rested on Luke and Gohan.

* * *

_Whew, finally, the chapter finished! Anyway, I'd like to apologize for the late update, I've been working on my Star Wars New Jedi Order fic __Scarlet Shadows__ (Shameless promotion, but why not? It's NJO AU, Anakin/Tahiri, Jacen/Danni and Jaina... um... I haven't decided!) the past days, and I've also been completing my other fics that are close to completion. So... I really wanted to bring Goten along, but I felt that there's going to be a lot of members in the party already. And then if Goten goes, then Trunks must go as well. But as I mentioned the last time, Goten and Trunks will make a comeback; I just have to figure out how to work that out._

_Thanks for your reviews and for your support; it's fun to write when you know your writing is appreciated. This is one of my favorite pieces, from what I've written that is, because it's the combination of my two favorite series. *grins* Once again, thank you so much, and may the Force be with you! =P_

**_Next chapter:_** _Adverse circumstances force Luke to accompany his friends on their journey to Alderaan. But with Gohan's starfighter busted, they head to Mos Eisley to find someone who can take them there, meeting up with Han Solo and his Wookie sidekick Chewbacca._

**I, Jedi **© Kaz, 2003  
**Dragonball Z **© Akira Toriyama  
**Star Wars **© George Lucas


	5. I, Observer

**_I, Jedi_**

Chapter Four  
_I, Observer_

As soon as Ben's eyes rested on the demi-saiyajin's figure, he could not help but open his mouth in surprise. "M-me, sir?" he asked, disbelief evident in the tone of his voice. Afterwards, he shook his head, not really knowing how to react to the old man's announcement --- though it was in a silent manner --- that he could possibly become a Jedi Knight. "Um, it's uh... flattering... to, um, know that I'm strong in that _'Force' _you're talking about, but... um, that's not what I came here for. I just wanted to deliver the message to you, because, um... I... I wanted to know if something's going on. And, well, I... I like helping pretty girls." He fell short, however, as soon as he saw Videl's piercing glare, and then he quickly corrected, "I mean, I like helping... those in need."

He rose, not really knowing what was making him react that way, but it was most probably because he didn't really believe the Force ruckus he was told, even if it seemed logical and true. "We'll be leaving now," Gohan said, bowing in apology. "Thank you, sir, it was... uh... most kind of you to tell us what you know, but I believe we should return to our planet now. Alderaan's much too far away, and my mother is going to be... um, mad, if we don't return as soon as possible. We actually left without asking permission, leaving her behind to keep her out of trouble." He shifted his gaze towards Luke. "Thanks for everything, Luke."

"You've been wonderful company," Videl added.

Gohan wasn't the only one who reacted as such, however, for as soon as he said those words, Luke hopped off the repair seat with a dazed expression on his face. It was as if the surroundings suddenly closed on him, the formerly intriguing furnishings and alien artifacts now frightening. He looked around wildly as he exclaimed that he wasn't going to Alderaan and that he didn't even know where Alderaan is, trying to avoid the gaze of Ben Kenobi... old Ben... crazy Ben... General Obi-wan...

He immediately seconded, "Yes, we've got to get back home." He glanced at his friends. "I've got to help them, uh, repair their ship so they can return to their world, and I've got to think of something to tell my uncle --- I hope." Remembering something, he gestured towards the motionless astromech droid, and with only his raven eyes, the demi-saiyajin silently urged him to do the same. "You can keep him. He seems to want you to. And you'll need him if you're going to Alderaan."

Without any further words, the three hurried out of the cave, but not before they were once again stopped by Ben's voice, a mixture of sadness and firmness of durasteel. "I need your help," he began silently, not moving from his spot. He allowed them to turn back and look at him. "I'm getting too old for this kind of thing, while you three are young and energetic. I can't trust myself to finish it properly on my own, as this mission is far too important." He nodded towards Artoo. "You heard and saw the message. The Empire is making its move, and there aren't enough Jedi Knights to counter its advances. I am the only one who remains."

"But... I can't get involved with anything like that! I've got so much work to do; we've got crops to bring in, even though Uncle Owen could always break down and hire a little extra help. I mean, one, I guess," Luke protested, getting even more uncomfortable by the minute. He wanted nothing more but to leave the area and return to the farm, even if it would mean more work for him and another battle of words with his uncle. "But there's nothing I can do about it, not now. Besides, that's all such a long way from here. The whole thing is really none of my business."

"Excuse me," Videl suddenly interrupted, something crossing her mind. "So this Empire is a big bad organization that's out to crush planet after planet, and you're planning to destroy it by teaching Gohan and Luke how to wave that glowstick around?" She then shot a look at Gohan, knowing enough of the teenager's capabilities, although not everything about him and his past, to brag. "I'm sure Gohan can fight that Empire, if ever it crosses our path, without using that _'Force'_ you speak of all the time. If you should know, he can fly, catch successively fired bullets with one hand without getting hurt, lift cars and jetcopters and other objects that seem to big to carry, and jump from one rooftop to the other. That's without using the Force, but by using _ki_."

The silence thickened as one second passed after the other, all eyes resting on Gohan's rather muscular figure. At that, the demi-saiyajin laughed, rubbing the back of his head as he did so, until the old hermit stood up and stroked his chin in deep thought. "Interesting. Very interesting," he muttered. If he was surprised by the teenager's supernatural capabilities, he didn't show it. "In my life as a Jedi, I never knew anyone who could fly. But tell me, what is this _ki_ you mentioned?"

She answered, "It's the term we use for_ life energy_. It's somewhat similar to the Force, just..." Videl trailed off, unable to finish the sentence she started. What _was_ the difference between ki and the Force? Ki surrounded everyone and gave those who knew how to manipulate it special powers --- just like the Force. Not knowing how to continue, she looked at Gohan helplessly, who understood the concept of ki a lot more than she did. But he chose not to say a word, not to hold out a gesture. "It's just that the capabilities you acquire through your knowledge of the Force is not as powerful as that of ki," she finished, just playing around with words, before she bid farewell and hurried out.

"Remember, the suffering of one man is the suffering of all," the old man droned, making them stop in their tracks once again. They didn't know if he used the Force to influence them, or if he was plainly gifted at making others listen to him. Ben clasped his hands together casually. "Distances are irrelevant to injustice. If not stopped soon enough, evil eventually reaches out to engulf all men, whether they have opposed it or ignored it, whether they use the Force or ki." He then stood up. "May I ask one last favor? To get to Alderaan I have to go to Anchorhead or Mos Eisley to find someone I can hire to take me there. An old man such as I will take a very long time to get there, and I don't have a landspeeder I can ride on..."

The three looked at each other in silence, analyzing the situation. Then, Luke turned to his friend and offered, "We could take you as far as Anchorhead."

"Very well. That will do for a beginning. Then you must do what you feel is _right_."

"Someone look over there. Smoke, I believe so," Ben ordered, pointing to the southwest with one frail-looking finger. The landspeeder continued to race over the gravelly desert floor beneath them, sending clouds of dust all over the area. His three young companions were apparently distracted, however, in deep thought about the situation at hand. Luke, deep inside his heart, wanted to go with the old man to Alderaan and embark on an adventure, as it was something he had been longing for. Gohan, on the other hand, might not have accepted Ben's teachings about the Force, despite the conversation that transpired between them that compared the two seemingly parallel ideas, but he was ready to help fight against the Empire if there need be.

Luke spared a glance at the direction the hermit indicated, squinting his eyes. "I don't see anything, sir."

The demi-saiyajin's eyes narrowed significantly as the farmboy turned the speeder towards a particular angle, noticing the wisps of smoke Ben detected earlier. After rising slightly, the landspeeder dropped down a gentle slope into a canyon that was filled with twisted, burned shapes, some of them inorganic, some not. Dead in the center of the carnage and looking like a beached metal whale lay the shattered hulk of a Jawa sandcrawler.

At that, the pilot brought the speeder to a halt, and all four of them climbed down, along with their droids, examining the detritus of destruction. "Looks like the sandpeople did it, all right. Here's Bantha tracks..." Luke's voice trailed of as he noticed a piece of metal half-buried in the sand. Picking it up, he shook his head in confusion. "... and a piece of one of those big double axes of theirs. But I never heard of Raiders hitting something this big, though."

"They didn't," Ben declared casually as he examined the broad, huge footprints in the sand along with Gohan, who found them interesting as well, "but they intended that we --- and anyone else who might happen to come into this --- should think so. Look at these tracks, carefully, all of you." He pointed at the nearest one, then up at the others. "Whoever left here was riding Banthas side by side. Sandpeople always ride one Bantha behind the other, single file, to hide their strength from any distant observers." The old man then turned his attention to the sandcrawler, pointing at destroyed parts of the transport. "Look at the precision with which this firepower was applied. Sandpeople aren't this accurate. In fact, no one in Tatooine fires and destroys with this kind of efficiency."

Everything fell into place inside Gohan's mind. His house was burned down before he left for the planet, after. "Imperials," he breathed in realization, looking at his companions. "Only Imperial troops could do this, at least from what you said, sir. And they destroyed my home back on Earth, too, in search for these droids..."

His eyes flew wide open in shock as he figured out what was going on, while Luke was already sprinting insanely towards the landspeeder. He had already started the engines when Ben called out for him to stop, and not wanting the farmboy to face the Imperials on his own, Gohan jumped into the craft, followed shortly by Videl, who knew where her place was as well. As for Luke, he heard nothing except the roaring in his ears, felt nothing save the burning in his heart. He threw the accelerator full over as son as he got into the transport, and in an explosion of sand and gravel he left an old man and two robots standing on their own in the midst of smoldering bodies, framed by the still smoking wreck of the sandcrawler.

Obi-wan Kenobi's pride did not prevent him from wrapping an old scarf over his nose and mouth to filter out a portion of the bonfire's drifting odor. The two droids, on the other hand, worked together to throw the last of the bodies into the blazing fire, then stood back and watched along with everyone else as the dead continued to burn. Not that the desert scavengers wouldn't have been equally efficient in picking the burned-out sandcrawler clean of flesh, but Kenobi retained values most modern men would've dreamed archaic. He would consign no one to the bone-gnawers and gravel-maggots, not even a filthy Jawa.

Gesturing for the two robots to follow, Kenobi started towards the landspeeder that was parked a short distance away from the bonfire. He saw Luke Skywalker sitting motionless in the pilot's seat, his female off-worlder friend Videl Satan sitting beside him, her hand enclosing his as she tried to comfort him. Standing outside, his back resting against the transport's hull, was Gohan Son, his eyes closed and a strange aura radiating from him. Kenobi blinked, realizing that the young man was trying to suppress the anger that was leaking out of him from every possible exit point, and reminded himself to keep a close eye on the teenager. Anger was of the Dark Side.

"I share your sorrow, Luke," he finally ventured softly. "But there was nothing you could have done. Had you been there, you'd be dead now, too, and the droids would be in the hands of the Imperials. Not even the Force---"

"Damn your Force!" Skywalker snarled with sudden violence, his voice filled with ire. He then turned and glared at Kenobi, the expression on his face that of a much older man. His eyes turned to look out across the desert, to focus on something beyond sand, rock and canyon walls. After what seemed to be a long time, he whispered, "I'll take you to the spaceport as Mos Eisley, Ben. I want to go with you --- to Alderaan. There's nothing left for me here now... I want to learn to be like a Jedi, like my father. I want..." He paused, the words blocking his throat.

"Then I'll go with you," Satan blurted out with conviction, making the farmboy look into her fierce blue eyes. "Force or no Force, I'm going."

At her announcement, her fellow off-worlder Son opened his eyes to regard everyone else in the group. He didn't want to go, but he was left with no choice. The Imperials burned down the spaceship they used to get to the rock-and-sand planet as well; the only way for them to secure another transport would be to go to Mos Eisley. And since his companions were planning to go there to get to Alderaan, then why would he desert them, most especially at his hour? Not only could he help them, he could also help Senator Organa and those opposed to the Empire. "I'm going, too," he voiced out, which made a smile appear on Kenobi's face.

"Very well. Luke, I'll do my best to see that you get what you want. Gohan, Videl, I'm not forcing you to believe in what I believe in. I just hope that our varying strategies will not bring conflict when the time of battle comes," the hermit said, before he climbed into the landspeeder and slid into the cockpit. He then turned to Luke, who was piloting the craft. "But for now, let's go to Mos Eisley."

Unlike Anchorhead, there were enough people in Mos Eisley to require movement in the heat of the day. Built from the beginning with commerce in mind, even the oldest of the town's buildings had been designed to provide protection from Tatooine's twin suns that generated more than enough heat that was necessary. They looked primitive from the outside, and many were. But oftentimes walls and arches of old stone masked durasteel double walls with circulating coolant flowing freely in between.

Luke was maneuvering the landspeeder through the town's outskirts when several tall, gleaming forms appeared from nowhere and began to close a circle around him. For one panicked moment he considered gunning the engine, to race through the pedestrians and other vehicles in an attempt to get away from them, but a startingly firm grip on his arm both restrained and relaxed him, almost as if his companion read his mind. He glanced slightly behind him to see Ben smiling at him in warning.

So they continued at a normal town cruising speed, the pilot hoping that the Imperial troopers had business elsewhere and that they wouldn't cross paths with them. Gohan, despite his casual demeanor and relaxed posture, was undeniably keeping a close eye on the white-uniformed soldiers that scattered around the town, while Videl had shifted to the edge of her seat, ready for anything, whether they should fight or flee. At that, Luke concluded that the two weren't ordinary off-worlders; they were off-worlders with special abilities --- at least, Gohan had them --- and they were both used to battle.

One of the Imperial soldiers raised an armored hand, and Luke had no choice but to respond. As he pulled the transport over, he grew aware of the attention they were receiving from curious passersby. Worse yet, it seemed that the trooper's attention was in fact reserved not for Ben, his friends, or himself, but for the two unmoving robots seated behind them. "How long have you had these droids?" the trooper who had raised his hand demanded in somewhat a bark. It was obvious that polite formalities had been dispensed.

"Three or four seasons, I guess."

The trooper in charge did not comment on that, or for the old man's remark that the droids were actually for sale, because he was busy examining the landspeeder's underside, as if sensing something suspicious. He then turned to the pilot and asked sternly, "Did you come from the south?"

Luke answered quickly, "No... no, we live in the west, near Bestine."

At that, the Imperial trooper gazed at him through his shiny-looking helmet. "Bestine?" he murmured, walking around to study the landspeeder's front this time. Luke forced himself to stare straight ahead, while Videl slid further back into her seat in her attempt to calm herself. Gohan and Ben, to the other two's surprise, were very calm and relaxed, as if they both had something under their sleeves. Finally, the armored figure concluded his examination, moving to stand really close to Luke and snapped, "Let me see your identification."

The farmboy's resolution of not long before to be ready to take on anything had already disintegrated under the unwinking stare of this professional soldier. He was aware of the consequences if they got a look at his formal ID, with the location of his homestead and the names of his nearest relatives on it. Something seemed to be buzzing inside his head; he felt faint. However, it was then when Ben leaned over and engaged in a casual conversation with the soldier. "You don't need to see his identification," the old man said in a strange-sounding voice.

Staring blankly back at him, the officer replied, as if it were self-evident, "I don't need to see your identification." His reaction was the opposite of the old man's, and despite the fact that his voice was normal, Luke and his friends could tell that his expression was peculiar. The farmboy wanted to look at his friends and see if they were thinking of what he was thinking --- that is, what was going on and how the Imperial suddenly had a change of heart --- but he was too nervous to glance anywhere else.

"These aren't the droids you're looking for," Ben told him pleasantly.

"These aren't the droids we're looking for."

"He can go about his business."

"You can go about your business."

The expression of relief that spread across Luke's face should have been as revealing as his previous expression of nervousness, but the Imperial ignored it. When Ben whispered, "Move along," and the Imperial instructing him the same, he nudged the landspeeder's accelerator, moving it forward and drawing it away from the circle of soldiers. As they prepared to round a corner, Luke risked a glance backward, and saw the officer who had inspected them arguing with several comrades, though at their distance the farmboy couldn't be very sure. He then peered at his companions, and saw that Gohan and Videl were looking at Ben as well. The old man only shook his head, however, and smiled.

Swallowing his curiosity, Luke concentrated on guiding the speeder through steadily narrowing streets. Ben pointed and the pilot pulled the landspeeder up in front of what appeared to be one of the original spaceport's first blockhouses. It had been converted into a cantina with different kinds of transports parked outside, some of which Luke recognized, the others he had only heart of. The cantina itself, he knew from the design of the building, must lie partially underground. But his mind, however, was still too full of their narrow escape for him to comment on what lay ahead of them. "I still can't understand how we got by those troops. I thought we were as good as dead."

"Well if they caught us, Gohan and I would've knocked them down without trouble. They don't look too tough," Videl blurted out confidently, looking behind her to catch a glimpse of the soldiers. She didn't see any. Then, she turned to the old man who sat behind her and Luke, her expression transforming into that of curiosity. "But how did you do that? It's like you pulled them into hypnosis or something."

"The Force is in the mind, and sometimes it can be used to influence others," the old man replied with a knowing smile as he prepared to get off the landspeeder, but not before sweeping his gaze from one teenager to the other. "It's a powerful ally, yes. But as you come to know the Force, you will discover that it can also be a danger. There are many things --- emotions, primarily --- that can lead one to the Dark Side."

If the off-worlders understood what Ben explained, Luke didn't know, as he was nodding at the hermit without really understanding and at the same time, indicating the run-down through the popular cantina, another thought crossing his mind. "Do you really think we can find a pilot here capable of taking us all the way to Alderaan?"

Ben was already out of the speeder, and Gohan was following his lead, helping him pull the two robots out as well. "Most of the good, independent freighter pilots frequent this place," Ben explained, "though many can afford better. They can talk freely through here. You should have learned by now, Luke, not to equate ability with appearance." At that, he extended his hand towards the young pilot, offering to help him get up, while their female companion jumped out of the landspeeder without trouble, almost as if she flew out of it. "Watch yourselves, everyone. This place can be tough."

The cantina, they soon learned, was not the place for them to be. As soon as their guardian disappeared to look for someone to take them to Alderaan, they were assaulted by aliens --- some of them targeting Skywalker, who was too respectful for their tastes; a handful hit on Son, who did not say a word as they got inside but merely looked around, as if they were intimidated by his silence; the others decided to flirt with the female member of their party, who was undeniably pretty even with her tomboyish demeanor. The real trouble began, however, was when she decided to teach the aliens a lesson, taking one of them by his clothes and pinning him to the wall, her fist ready to wreck his face.

Chaos then erupted as everyone reacted to the situation at various ways, and Satan, who was then the target of most of the aliens, dropped into a fighting stance and prepared to combat whoever would dare approach her. The demi-saiyajin, who stood not far from her, was about to intervene when a small group of monstrous-looking creatures charged for her, but he quickly pulled away as she knocked them down without trouble. She rubbed her hands together, as if dusting the dirt off, when a blaster suddenly made its way behind her, its tip dug into the back of her head.

"No blasters, no blasters! Not in my place!" the bartender shrieked as soon as he saw one of his customers bring out the weapon to the female off-worlder's head, charging clumsily around the end of the bar, waving his hands frantically but still taking care to stay out of range.

Sneering, the creature squeezed the trigger, but not before Satan dropped and kicked him on where even aliens didn't want to be kicked. He let out a yell, his blaster firing, and everyone ducked for cover. The bolt was deflected, however, by the fiery blue-white light that appeared in the dimness of the cantina, hitting the creature who fired it in the first place. Luke and his friends, on the other hand, had taken the opportunity to rush to Kenobi; they didn't want to cause any more trouble than they already had.

At that, the old man led them to a booth at the rear end of the cantina, where they encountered a sharp-featured young man perhaps five years older than Skywalker --- or perhaps a dozen, it was difficult to tell. The look on his face was difficult to tell as well; either he was utterly confident, or insanely reckless. At their approach, the man sent the humanoid waitress who had been wriggling on his lap on her way with a whisper, which left a wide grin on her face. Only that, well... it was inhuman. His Wookie companion, who they soon found out to be named Chewbacca, rumbled something at the man, and he nodded in response, glancing up at the newcomers pleasantly.

"You're pretty handy with that saber, old man. Not often does one see that kind of swordplay in this part of the Empire anymore." He swallowed a portion of whatever filled his mug without trouble, motioning for them to sit down at the empty chairs that were designated for them. He then became all businesslike. "I'm Han Solo, captain of the _Millennium Falcon_. Chewie tells me you're looking for passage to the Alderaan system?"

"That's right, son. If it's on a fast ship," Kenobi replied.

"Fast ship? You mean you've never _heard_ of the _Millennium Falcon?_"

The old man appeared amused. "Should I have?"

"It's the ship that made the Kessel run in less than twelve standard timeparts!" Solo told him indignantly, a look of anger on his face. "I've run Imperial starships and Corellian cruisers. I think she's fast enough for you, old man." His outrage subsided rapidly, not wanting to waste the chance of earning. Kenobi's bunch seemed easy to fool and manipulate. "What's your cargo?"

"Passengers. Myself, the boys, the girl, two droids --- no questions asked." He then leaned forward, peering casually into the Corellian's eyes. At that, the three other humans looked at each other, as if predicting that the old man was going to use another one of his mind tricks again. "Let's just say we'd like to avoid any Imperial entanglement."

"These days that can be a real trick. It'll cost you a little extra." Solo did some mental figuring, tapping the table with his fingers as he did so. He gave a knowing glance at his Wookie co-pilot before he gave their customers his answer, which he was sure would startle them, but will leave them with no choice but to give in. "All in all, about ten thousand. In advance." He then added with a smile, "And no questions asked."

"Ten thousand?!" the off-worlders chorused, as the pilot expected

Skywalker gaped. "Ten thousand! We could almost buy our own ship for that!"

The older man shrugged. "Maybe you could, and maybe you couldn't. In any case, could you fly it?"

"You bet I coudl! I'm not such a bad pilot myself! I don't---"

Again, the firm hand on his arm. "We haven't that much with us," Kenobi explained. "But we could pay you two thousand now, plus another fifteen when we reach Alderaan." He let out a smile, glancing at his companions to indicate that everything was all right. "I promise you that --- from the government of Alderaan itself. At the worst, you'll have earned an honest fee: two thousand. But there's nothing that could possibly go wrong, could there, son?"

But Solo seemed not to hear the last few words, absorbed in the amount the old man told him earlier in their conversation. "Seventeen thousand... All right, I'll chance it. You've got yourselves a ship. As for avoiding Imperial entanglements, you'd better twist our of there or even the _Millennium Falcon_ won't be any help to you." He nodded towards the cantina entrance, as if indicating something, rose and added quickly, "Docking bay ninety-four, first thing in the morning. But now, we gotta scram."

Four Imperial troopers, their eyes darting rapidly from table to booth to bar, had entered the cantina. There was muttering from among the crowd, just like the usual, but whenever the eyes of one of the heavily armed men went hunting for the mutterers, the words died with sullen speed. It was evident that even if the soldiers didn't look so tough, the people feared them, nonetheless. Moving to the bar, the officer in charge asked the bartender a couple of brief questions, all of which he answered with a hint of hesitation. He then pointed towards a place near the back of the room. As he did so, however, his eyes widened slightly. The expression on the officer's face, on the other hand, was unreadable.

The booth the bartender was pointing to was empty.

* * *

_To be honest, I'm not actually the type of person who cares much about details, but it can't be helped that such details have to be taken into consideration. I would like to thank everyone who pointed those out, and most especially to those who had such wonderful suggestions! I apologize if there will be any mistakes; this is my first crossover attempt and thus I'm not very experienced. So anyway... keep the suggestions coming! Don't worry, when this is all over, I'm going to make a list of those who helped out, giving credit where credit is due._

_To __Bebi-Mara-Jade__: Yes, Mara's really Vegeta-ish, and that's what makes her very cool! But seriously, she'll make an appearance, of course. Remember the Sail Barge vision Luke had in the Thrawn Trilogy? I forgot which book that was in, but that scene will be put into play. With slight revisions, but more or less, that._

_Thanks everyone! If you want to talk some sense into me regarding this fic, feel free to email or IM me. =P_

**_Next chapter:_**_ The trip for Alderaan aboard the Millennium Falcon begins. Luke gets to practice using his lightsaber and experience the Force, while someone who Obi-Wan failed to notice will show signs of being Force-sensitive. At the other end of hyperspace, the Death Star will undergo target practice, while back on Earth, it's time for the World Martial Arts Tournament to begin._

**I, Jedi **© Kaz, 2003  
**Dragonball Z **© Akira Toriyama  
**Star Wars **© George Lucas


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